It was the highest grossing silent film of all time (before inflation) bringing in $18-$22 million. It was a ground-breaking film that would go on to inspire other great masterpieces of All Quiet on the Western Front. It was one of the first films to to not glorify war and instead try and show its true face. It was the legendary film The Big Parade. This classic by King Vidor is certainly an essential piece of cinema history. But I don't feel that it holds up by today's standards. In fact, I even hesitate to call it a war film. Really, it's a melodrama. James "Jim" Apperson is a spoiled wealthy playboy who enlists in the army when America enters World War One when his friends pressure him. Once deployed in France, he meets a farm girl named Melisande and falls in love with her. Then, of course, he is called off to war. He gets trapped in No Man's Land, loses a foot, and miraculously survives and is reunited with Melisande. For all of the praise that the film is given for its depiction of warfare, it doesn't seem too concerned with an anti-war message. The war and carnage of the battlefield serves to heighten the stakes in Jim's torrid affair. There is a touching moment where he gives a cigarette to a dying enemy German while stuck in a shell hole, but it isn't dwelt upon. This film is about Jim. As a result, its "anti-war" message feels artificial. This movie is about tears and kisses, not blood and gun shots.
7/10
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